Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Hand In Hand

Dana and Mike are married!!Two of my best friends, the most generous and genuine people that I know,
are married. It feels like just yesterday we were pressuring Mike to propose, and I feel so honored to have
been included in their special day.

Dana and I became friends when I started visiting Emily at
RPI. After many sleeps on the glitter factory couch and then tons at Dana's State Street place in Albany, I am happy to be able to call her one of my very best friends. Dana has done so much for me over
the past few years. She has provided
countless pans of buffalo chicken dip and bottles of Andre for random pig-out
days. She has been present, and very
consoling, whenever the most recent flame has broken my little heart (tequila usually
guaranteed to follow). She has opened
her home to us whenever we needed to stay, and she has plenty of extra rooms
for her “children.” She is always
thoughtful in gift-giving, most recently giving me a camera as a bridesmaid
gift, knowing that I wanted one for Thailand so badly. She is sure to be found in Albany about once
a week and show up for any and all events, although Dana and Mike moved to Hopewell Junction last year. Dana is
selfless and I am thankful that I have her in my life.

As for Mike, he won me over the first night I met him. On this particular Friday night, I had zero
plans of going to RPI because I was incredibly broke, but suddenly after
student teaching that day, I had texts saying that Mike Passante was taking the
girls out to dinner and I would be missing out.
Free dinner? Yes. Okay fine, count me in. Mike took all 7 (?) of us girls to dinner at Carrabba’s
and this was the first time he had met most of us. Sangria, apps, sangria, dinner, and more
sangria later, I was sold. It was like
Dana and Mike had been together forever, and from that night on, I never
thought twice about their relationship.

In the weekend that is supposed to be dedicated to them,
Mike and Dana were extremely generous, as usual. Gifts were given, nails were done, lobsters were
eaten, smores were made, boats were ridden.
These are just some things that Dana and Mike did for us, just as much
as for themselves. Although Dana is
allergic to seafood, she made sure that everyone got lobster, clams, and mussels
at the rehearsal dinner. On the night of
the wedding, the reception ended at 10:30, but who wants to stop partying
then? So they planned a bonfire on the
beach with a bar and ingredients for smores.
Then, why end a Friday night wedding on Friday night?! Most friends were
staying until Sunday, just because we wanted to have each other’s company, but
Dana and Mike insisted on finding something for us to do. Booze cruise anyone?

I couldn’t be happier for these two amazing people. I literally cannot find another word other
than perfect to describe this weekend. I
will now agree that a bit of rain is good luck on a wedding day. Dana has dreamed of getting married on a
beach in Cape Cod since she was a little girl, and there was a moment when we
all almost broke down crying because of the rain. We watched the radar all day, and we finally
found that the rain would break 20 minutes after the ceremony was supposed to
start. So, we waited. Really, what is 20 minutes when this is what
you have wanted your whole life?! As
soon as the rain let up, we got into wedding mode, telling the wedding planner
to GO, GO, GO! The ceremony was
perfect. Perfect temperature, perfect
sunset, perfect bride, and perfect groom.
You could just feel the love on that beach at that moment (and the tears dripping from Allison's face), and I can
only hope that I experience that from a bride’s perspective at some point in my
life.

Dana Ciborowski is now Dana Passante, and I don't find it weird in
the slightest bit. These two are meant
to be together. It is obviously cliché to
say about a newlywed couple, but I don’t know that I am so sure of anything
else in my life at the moment. Dana and
Mike have been through a lot, and everything in their lives
finally fell together at the right place, right time. I am happy to call Dana my best friend, and
happy to call Mike my sugar daddy. Happy to call them both family.